Ottawa police will be deploying more officers in the ByWard Market and downtown core this spring, as part of a plan to address safety concerns from residents, tourists and businesses. Chief Eric Stubbs outlined the new downtown core safety plan during the Mayor’s Breakfast at Ottawa City Hall Tuesday morning, saying officers will boost their visibility in the busy areas and focus on “hot spots” in the downtown core. “So, we know as a police service that we need more presence, we need more of a response, not only in the ByWard Market, in the downtown core,” Stubb said while chatting with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. “So, we are now prepared to make more of a commitment to the city, to the downtown core with a plan.” Stubbs says the operational plan will be implemented on May 1, with a “sustained presence” for officers in the ByWard Market, Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue, Centretown, Chinatown and along Bank Street. “We are going to have dedicated members that have that visible uniform presence in this area,” Stubbs said. “So, we have our Neighbourhood Resource Teams, they’re sort of our jewel of our proactive component at the Ottawa Police Service. They’re in all the neighbourhoods across the city.” The staff stabilization plan for the Ottawa Police Service has allowed police to add 14 officers to the downtown Neighbourhood Resource Team, according to the chief. Stubbs says the plan will include Neighbourhood Resource Team officers, community policing officers, the Community Youth Unit, Ottawa Police special constables, traffic officers and members of the new Parliamentary Precinct team. “For the first time in a long, long time, our frontline officers are going to be tasked with each part of the shift. There will be a few members from each platoon that will be dedicated to doing some proactive work in the downtown core,” Stubbs said, adding the tactical unit will “dedicate some of their shift” to being downtown. “All of those units – very visible and they’ll be focused and they’ll know exactly where to go in terms of those hot spot areas and, as well as, targeting those people that are causing the community the most harm.” The chief said the goals for the increased police presence in the ByWard Market and downtown areas include an “improved, visible presence” for police, a decrease in crime and calls for service, and increased consistency in dealing with “social disorder.” Stubbs told the Mayor’s Breakfast that police know there are “concerns” in the downtown core. “We know that we have to do something. We see an increase in the concerns of safety from business owners, from the residents, from the tourists, from the users of the downtown core and the ByWard Market,” Stubbs said. “We see an increase of the vulnerable population. Last summer, there was a real influx if people from other communities; we saw Montreal, Cornwall, Kingston, Sudbury come into the city. A lot of the social agencies, my team on the ground said there are a lot of new faces there that we don’t know. That followed an increase in calls for service, increased crime. So, we know as a police service that we need more presence, we need more of a response.”
